Cardboard Cups With Grooved Structure For Vending Machines

ABSTRACT

A paper cup for use in vending machines comprises at least one inner groove on its inner surface and at least one outer groove on its outer surface.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to and the benefit of utility model application titled “Cardboard Cups With Grooved Structure For Vending Machines”, application number u 2020/01481, filed in the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office on Jan. 31, 2020. The specification of the above referenced patent application is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a paper cup, which is preferably used in the hot and cold drinks sector and which can be used in vending machines, which has the possibility of being held together with other paper cups by means of grooves on both its inner and outer surface.

BACKGROUND

Today, products such as bottles and cups made of plastic and similar materials that are difficult to recycle are used to offer beverages to the consumer. The plastic cups used in vending machines such as coffee and tea machines have a groove structure that allows them to hook into one another.

Disposable cups, which are widely used in daily life, are plastic cups and are typically thrown away after use. The recycling times for plastic cups and all other products made from plastic as a raw material are long. In Europe, an average of more than a billion plastic cups are used each year. Efforts to reduce the use of plastics are increasing day by day in order to reduce plastic pollution and the associated damage to nature. The use of plastic cups in the IN-CUP vending machines used in the current art continues to be widespread. There is a groove structure on these plastic cups to hold the plastic cups together. With the help of this structure, with which more than one plastic cup can be connected and clamped together, plastic cups are nowadays often used in machines such as coffee and tea machines.

The biggest challenge in using paper cups to protect nature is the design and the point of production. The use of paper cups instead of plastic is not yet widespread in vending machines such as tea and coffee because the grooved structure on plastic cups, which allows the cups to interlock and interlock, has not yet been applied to the manufacture of paper cups.

In the Turkish utility model with application number 2015/00282 the invention reads: “The invention is a plastic cup that is nested, with the rib and mouth arranged in integrity with the mouthpiece, ensuring that the outer plastic cup is held, if the plastic cups are stacked and the distance between the plastic cups is maintained, and the rib consists of circular rings arranged parallel to one another and surrounding the side surfaces of the cup, thereby strengthening its integrity.”

In this utility model, circular rings are mentioned which surround the side surfaces of the cup and are arranged parallel to one another. This design prevents the plastic cups from becoming entangled and deformed no matter how much force is applied from above and below. Despite the advantages of the design, the environmental impact could not be prevented as the utility model 2015/00282 is a plastic cup design.

In the Turkish utility model with the application number 2018/15599, the invention relates in summary to the following: “Disposable paper cups with a filtered area for tea, coffee, soup and similar drinks and spoons for mixing”.

A paper cup configuration is mentioned in this utility model. Inside the paper cup there is a porous layer that contains the taste of the drink and also serves as a filter and spoon for mixing the drink. Furthermore, there is no mention of a system or structure that would allow the paper cups to intertwine and join together.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a paper cup which has been developed to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks and to bring new advantages to the technical field concerned, which is preferably used in the field of hot and cold beverages and can be used in vending machines and which can be used with the aid of its interior—and outer surfaces can be jammed with other cups.

The object of the invention is to produce a paper cup which can be used in vending machines, preferably in the field of hot and cold beverages, and to bring a product onto the market which can be preferred to environmentally harmful plastic cups.

Another object of the present invention is that the paper cup has a groove structure on both its inner and outer surfaces.

Another object of the present invention is to ensure that the cardboard cups obtained are connected to one another by means of the groove structure and that more than one cardboard cup can be stored by being stacked one inside the other.

The present invention aims to use its current structure to replace plastic cups and thereby create a great benefit for nature. If the product of the invention is 40% of the market

Replacing the plastic cups in place prevents at least 400 million plastic cups from being wasted and preventing damage to natural life.

The object is achieved by paper cups according to claim 1. Preferred embodiments emerge from the subclaims and the following description.

The structural and characteristic features and all the advantages of the invention will be more clearly understood from the detailed description described below, and therefore, evaluation should be made with this detailed description in mind.

CHARACTERS

The invention is described with reference to the accompanying figure so that the characteristics of the invention can be more clearly understood and appreciated; however, it is not intended to limit the invention to these specific embodiments. On the contrary, it is intended to cover all alternatives, modifications, and equivalents that may fall within the scope of the invention as set out in the appended claims. It is to be understood that the details shown are shown for the purpose of illustrating preferred embodiments of the present invention and are presented in order to provide the most useful and easily understandable description of both the embodiment of the methods and the rules and conceptual features of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In this drawing the subjects are shown as below:

FIG. 1 illustrates a side view of the paper cup according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Elements that contribute to an understanding of this invention are denoted by the following reference numerals as in the accompanying drawings:

Explanation of the details in the drawing:

1: First cup 2: Second cup

3: Inner groove 4: Outer groove

FIG. 1 illustrates a side view of the paper cup according to the invention. In this detailed description, the paper cup according to the invention is explained only for a better understanding of the object and without restrictive effect. The invention relates to a paper cup which can be used in vending machines, preferably for use in hot and cold areas for beverages, and each cup has a circumferential groove on both its inner surface and its outer surface.

When the paper cup 1 of the present invention is put in a second cup 2, the outwardly convex groove 4 on the first cup 1 and the inwardly convex groove 3 on the second cup 2 will hook with each other and hold their position as long as no external force is applied. The groove structure of the paper cup according to the invention enables two or more inventive products to be used by nesting them.

The basic principle of the paper cup according to the invention is that the outwardly curved groove 4 on the outer surface of the first paper cup 1 on the inside of the inwardly curved groove 3 of the inner surface of the second paper cup 2 hook or jam and maintain their position as long as no external force acts.

The paper cup according to the present invention is obtained by the following process steps:

1. Cutting and printing the cardboard in the demanded.

2. Shape the cut piece into a paper cup shape.

3. Applying the groove system to the cardboard, which has been made into a paper cup shape. 

1. A paper cup for use in vending machines, wherein the paper cup comprises: at least one inner groove on an inner surface of the paper cup; and at least one outer groove on an outer surface of the paper cup.
 2. The paper cup of claim 1, wherein the paper cup is used in the hot and cold beverage field.
 3. A paper cup, comprising: an inner groove on an inner surface of the paper cup; and an outer groove on an outer surface of the paper cup.
 4. The paper cup of claim 1, wherein both the inner groove and the outer groove are circumferential grooves.
 5. The paper cup of claim 4, wherein the inner groove is an inwardly convex groove and the outer groove is an outwardly convex groove.
 6. The paper cup of claim 3, wherein the inner groove and the outer groove are circumferential grooves,
 7. The paper cup of claim 6, wherein the inner groove is an inwardly convex groove and the outer groove is an outwardly convex groove. 